The Presence of Humility

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28)

One of the greatest character qualities you can possess is humility. If you see good character in yourself, then you will be humble about it. Nothing will take you lower than pride, and nothing will lift you higher than humility. In this message, we are going to take a look at Mary, the mother of Jesus, and how she was an amazing picture of humility. What made her most blessed and most favored was not just that she was the mother of the Son of God, it was that she was incredibly humble.

As we study this story, we are going to see time and time again how God places a supreme value on the sublime virtue of humility. We enjoy the greatest blessings of life today because of a woman who did not go as high as she could, but who got as low as she could; and because she went as low as she could, she went higher than any woman ever before or since.

The first time we meet Mary, an angel of God is speaking to her. If you had walked by this girl before the angel had spoken to her, you wouldn’t have given her a second look. She was an average young girl, born to the lower-class, from a peasant’s town, in a poor region of Israel, engaged to a minimum wage laborer. She wasn’t a movie star, a beauty queen, or a rich socialite. Furthermore, Mary was not even a full-grown woman. She was a teenager.

Here was a nobody girl, living in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere, and face-to-face with an angel. I’m sure she wasn’t expecting to hear him say that of all the women on earth she enjoys a special favor of God and the special presence of God in her life. So you can certainly understand her confused response. In effect, Mary said to this angel, “You talking to me? Are you sure you don’t have me confused with someone else?” It never occurred to her that she would be the mother of God’s son. Mary would have never chosen herself; she can’t believe God had. In this, we see a great picture of her humility. Humility is not thinking higher of yourself than you should; it’s really not thinking of yourself at all. Mary did this so well, and we should all be striving to follow her example.

Dear Lord, I want to portray the same kind of humility Mary did. I want to be your servant in whatever way I can so that you can be glorified and so that other people will come to know you. Grant me opportunities to learn humility and continue to develop a humble spirit within me so that I might honor you. In Jesus’ name, amen.